Rescue crews searched a swollen Delaware River today for a 38-year-old Summit, N.J., man whose raft overturned near a Warren County campground on an outing with his daughter.

New Jersey State Police and local fire crews combed the murky
waters for an unidentified man who was last seen at 1:40 p.m., state
police said. He was part of a group rafting out of the Delaware River
Family Campground in Knowlton Township when the raft carrying him and his daughter broke away from the group, police said.

Their raft drifted over the state line into Pennsylvania and overturned near Belvidere Corner and River roads in Upper Mount Bethel Township. The 14-year-old daughter made it to shore with only minor injuries, but the father has not been seen
since, police said.

Officials with the campground declined to comment.

Frank DiLeo said he was in the kitchen of his new home on the 3400 block of River Road when he heard yells for help coming from the river. A group of kayakers told him two people had disappeared into the water, he said. That's when a hysterical teenage girl emerged from the water saying she could not find her father.

DiLeo said he waded into the river and tried to find the missing man, who the girl said was not wearing a life jacket. The water was muddy and thick with debris, he said, making it difficult to see and tough to find things by sense of touch.

"(The current) is incredibly strong. It'll pull you right down," he said. "All it takes is one slip and you're done."

DiLeo said he later met the girl's mother after they were reunited and learned the family was from Summit. State police have declined to identify the missing man.

While most of the rescue staff was based on the Pennsylvania side, some gathered at the campground's boat launch at the river's edge scanning the water. Children played nearby on the playground merry-go-round, and their parents said the water had been moving swiftly all morning.

The accident comes after Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area issued a river safety advisory Friday. John Donahue, park superintendent, issued the warning because heavy rains upstream were expected to push the river to 12.5 feet, several feet above normal – bringing with it swift currents, floating debris and decreased water temperatures.

Ray McHose, of Marlboro, N.J., said his family and friends came to the campground Friday night and went rafting at 10 a.m. The 22 people in the group, including 16 children, covered 8 miles in about 2 hours, he said. An adult in the group took a dip in the water during the trip, and he had to hold on tight to the raft to make sure he didn't get pulled downstream, McHose said.

"We felt OK as long as everyone had the proper equipment you should have out there," he said.